The Yenda facility, owned by Marcello Casella, only opened in August last year but demand for its high-quality 12-gauge shotgun shells has surpassed all expectation.

One of only two ammunition plants in Australia, it is fielding requests from all over the east coast as well as several international companies.

Run from the old McWilliam’s Wines laboratory, the factory produces 10 million cartridges on one loading machine and has permission to store 5000 kilograms of

gunpowder on the premises.

If Griffith City Council approves the latest development application (DA) for the site, proprietors Bronzewing Ammunitions will purchase an additional loading machine immediately and two more over the next two years.

A 30m by 50m building will be constructed on site to replace the old laboratory as well as a small office block and storage space for another 4500 kilograms of gunpowder.

“We are absolutely flat-out with production at the moment just to look after the domestic market,” Bronzewing manager Greg Boyle said.

“We’re also getting inquiries from places like Japan and New Zealand but we can’t even keep up with what we’ve got at the moment.

The new manufacturing site will be state-of-the-art and we’re keen to get going with it. We’ll start turning dirt as soon as the DA is approved.”

Once the new facility is running at full capacity, it will employ at least a dozen staff.

At present there are only three.

Council economic development manager Stephen Joyce was delighted Bronzewing had applied to extend its operations, saying it only meant positive things for the

region.

“One of the things that’s really good about the development is that it’s not agricultural-based so it’s a move toward diversifying even further what the region has to offer,” Mr Joyce said.

“It’s also a positive sign that locals are willing to invest their hard-earned dollars in our region so we can keep moving forward despite the challenges.”